Roger Waters recently published an open letter to Radiohead, urging them to call off their Tel Aviv concert due to Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.
Yorke has since said he found the public, vitriolic nature of the letter “extremely upsetting”, to which Waters claimed he didn’t wish for his comments to be taken as “confrontational”, despite being put in the public domain.
Now a lobbying group named “We Don’t Need No Roger Waters” have erected a petition on change.org which calls upon the boycotting of Waters until he disavows the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign – which calls for such Israeli boycotts, and “renounces antisemitism in all of its forms”.
The protest is strongly worded, and highlights what the petitioners say is “an extensive history of espousing antisemitic conspiracy theories, speaking about the ‘extraordinary’ power of the ‘Jewish lobby’ and going so far as to compare Israeli treatment of the Palestinians to the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany.”
The petition also points out that at a 2013 concert, “Waters appeared on stage in a Nazi-like uniform, with a pig-shaped balloon emblazoned with a Star of David and symbols of dictatorial regimes.”
Over a thousand people have signed the protest in the few two days. Read the full text of ‘We Don’t Need No Roger Waters’ statement, below.
Roger Waters has been a leader of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign within the cultural arena. He has lobbied countless artists to refuse to perform in Israel, while publicly criticizing others for doing so. In 2013, Waters appeared on stage in a Nazi-like uniform, with a pig-shaped balloon emblazoned with a Star of David and symbols of dictatorial regimes. Waters has an extensive history of espousing antisemitic conspiracy theories, speaking about the “extraordinary” power of the “Jewish lobby” and going so far as to compare Israeli treatment of the Palestinians to the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany.
While Waters speaks about “tear[ing] down wall[s],” he is one of the leading musicians today erecting the very walls that hinder peace in the region and fuel hatred. This hatred not only affects the State of Israel, but Jewish communities worldwide, as well as all those who care about human rights and democratic principles.
BDS leaders often claim that the purpose of the BDS movement is to champion Palestinian rights. However, this is highly misleading. As illustrated by extensive research and documentation, the objective of BDS is the complete elimination of the State of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people. It seeks not to condemn specific Israeli government policies, but to unjustly target Israelis, Jews, and all those worldwide who stand in support of the Jewish state. The tactics of utilizing immoral double standards and strategies of demonization and delegitimization are all expressions of contemporary antisemitism.
Music is intended to transcend political barriers and promote cultural exchange, pluralism, and diversity. Instead, Roger Waters is promoting hate. We, the undersigned, therefore boycott Roger Waters until he renounces antisemitism in all of its forms, including the unjust boycott of the Jewish state.
